We went to nearby Box Hill last night for Chinese Lantern Festival celebrations and there was quite a big crowd. I loved seeing the dragon dance and seeing, hearing and smelling the firecrackers warding off the ghosts of the past. I love that smell of black powder and cordite in the air...I haven't ever seen this celebration before although have travelled in China a bit, but never during Spring Festival-Lantern Festival time. Yes, the Symbol of China, for good reason, is The Dragon...and now, after all those years/centuries of dispute, of in fighting, introversion, colonisation by the West, all those centuries of isolation, sickness and poverty, and coma...the Dragon is awake, and well...and breathing real fire.